September 5, 2022
a late start, a later lunch, the bottom of his hat, a cheap hotel
Last night I set my alarm for 8:45 so I could make it to the free breakfast before they closed at 9:00. Apparently, when I set the alarm I was already halfway down the slide to somnolence because it didn't go off the next morning. Consequently, I didn’t wake up until 9:20. Really, though, I don’t know if you can ever say that accidentally sleeping until 9:20 is doing something “wrong.” I did ask Mike if the breakfast was any good and he said “meh,” but he might’ve just been being nice. He’s that kind of guy.
We asked for a late checkout because we were trying to figure out a way for Mike to get back to Pittsburgh since it doesn’t appear we’re going to be able to make it all the way to Syracuse where he had intended to rent a car. At one point we were looking into using Uber or Lyft to get him to the car rental agency when, all of a sudden, Mike noted that it was 12:50... ten minutes until our late checkout.
We threw our stuff on the bikes and rode the elevator downstairs. We weren’t in a hurry to start riding in the rain, but it was time, so we donned our rain gear and climbed on the bikes.
Immediately out of the hotel parking lot we pulled up to a short street, about half a mile long, with a lot of traffic and no shoulder. Trying to avoid the cars by getting back onto the bike path as quickly as possible, I sprinted down the road…. which was a really bad idea. I hadn’t warmed up first, and my knee would hurt the rest of the day when I tried to ride hard. It was particularly dumb because although it was a busy street, there was a lull in the traffic, and for the entire time I was on it, not a single car passed me. Fortunately, the trail was mostly level all day so I rarely needed to push myself.
We arrived at our planned lunch stop, Zoc’s, a burger place just off the path, only to find a prominent CLOSED sign on the door. Although google had said it was open, the locked door indicated otherwise. Instead, we ate a protein bar and got back on the route. I missed an unmarked turn in Rochester and we lost 15 minutes winding our way back.
We met Dennis riding along the path with his son and daughter. His 12-year-old son loves biking and is interested in possibly taking an extended trip someday. I gave him my contact info to provide information.
We pedaled through the slight headwind and intermittent light rain to Pittsford, where we stopped for lunch at a place right on the canal. Today we’re getting a later start than yesterday, and by the time we left at 3:45 we had only traveled 14 miles. Even so, that lunch was worth it.
Mike stopped to fish while I kept riding. We figured he’d be able to catch up easily. The path was mucky and slow in places, and there was a detour in Yellow Mills, shortly before Palmyra.
Palmyra has some historical interest in that it's the location where Joseph Smith said he found some golden plates which he translated from "reformed Egyptian" into English, then published as the Book of Mormon. According to eyewitnesses, he translated the plates, not by looking directly at them, but by looking at a "seer stone" which was in the bottom of his hat. He would place his face into the hat and parchment would appear, then the writing.... one Egyptian character at a time with the English interpretation beneath it.
The detour took me over to a really busy road, but only for about half a mile until I was able to get back on the original route. It was overcast and dark-ish, so I was glad to get off the busier road.
The trail wasn’t marked and I ended up making a loop back to the same place I started, so I texted Mike some pictures explaining exactly where to turn so he wouldn’t make the same mistake. Signage along the route could definitely be better in some places.
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The next section appeared very remote and, except for the ruts in some sections, was very pleasant riding.
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I was about thirty minutes ahead of Mike and arrived in Newark around 7:45, shortly after sunset. Instead of fumbling around in the dark trying to find a place to camp and pitch our tents, we chatted briefly on the phone then decided to get a hotel. I found a cheap one abutting the trail so we wouldn't need to ride through Newark's streets to get there.
My room was dark and a bit dank, with peeling wallpaper, and Mike’s was the same, but with a small hole in the wall. It wasn’t as nice as the Hilton we’d stayed in last night, but it was about half the price. I don’t really care much about hotel accommodations… the number of hours I’m conscious is minimal, and I'm mainly there just to sleep.
I ordered dinner from Portillo: a sub sandwich and a large Mug root beer. I didn't realize until recently that some root beers have caffeine and some don't, so I double checked to make sure Mug didn't have any. As much of it as I was drinking, if there had been caffeine in it I wouldn't have fallen asleep until noon tomorrow.
I cleaned and oiled my chain while waiting for the delivery, and pulled out some electrical tape to repair the area where my handlebar tape started unraveling near the right shifter. I was at my local bike shop a while back and the bike mechanic let me in on an industry secret: they use electrical tape on handlebars because it works better than the tape that comes with the handlebar tape.
Today was probably the most uneventful day of the whole trip. Not much happened, so I hope it wasn't too boring. Interesting days ahead, though.
We only rode 42 miles today, but it seemed a lot longer. I fell asleep by 11:30.
distance: 41.8 miles
elevation: +666 feet
total time: 5:54:03
moving time: 3:39:31
maximum speed: 21.6 mph
average moving speed: 11.4 mph
Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 138 miles (222 km)
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